1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an on-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle and a recognition support system, and more particularly, to an on-vehicle device and a recognition support system capable of achieving cost reduction of the on-vehicle device and allowing a driver to reliably recognize the presence of a detected moving object while preventing detection omission of a moving object approaching an own vehicle from a blind corner for the driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, there have been developed a number of on-vehicle devices that detect a moving object around a vehicle by an image captured by a camera and by using sensors or the like and warn the risk when an own vehicle and the moving object may collide with each other.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-69806 discloses an on-vehicle device that detects an obstacle that may collide with an own vehicle from images captured by a plurality of vehicle-mounted cameras mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and warns a driver of that effect.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-274538 discloses an on-vehicle device that detects a vehicle that is approaching an own vehicle from a blind corner for a driver by analyzing an image captured by a vehicle-mounted camera of the own vehicle, and alerts the driver by warning the driver that the vehicle is approaching.
More specifically, the on-vehicle device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-274538 simultaneously captures right-side image and left-side image of the own vehicle by a single vehicle-mounted camera with a built-in prism. The on-vehicle device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-69806 warns the driver of the approaching vehicle by displaying captured lateral images side-by-side.
However, because the on-vehicle device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-69806 requires a plurality of vehicle-mounted cameras, there arises a problem that the cost required for the vehicle-mounted cameras increases.
In addition, because the on-vehicle device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-274538 displays the right-side and left-side images side-by-side on a display unit, there arises a problem that it is difficult for the driver to know a distance between the right side and the left side.
Moreover, in the on-vehicle device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-274538, the right-side and left-side images are captured by the vehicle-mounted camera, but a front-side image is not captured. More specifically, because the front side of the vehicle becomes a blind corner, it is impossible to detect an approaching vehicle that may be highly dangerous to the own vehicle. Therefore, the driver has to confirm the safety in front of the own vehicle by the driver's view, however, it is difficult to cover the blind corner only with the driver's view.
From these problems, it remains a big challenge how to achieve an on-vehicle device and a recognition support system capable of achieving cost reduction of the on-vehicle device and allowing a driver to reliably recognize the presence of a detected moving object while preventing detection omission of a moving object approaching an own vehicle from a blind corner for the driver.